EFFECTIVENESS OF CATERPILLAR FRASS AS FERTILIZER ON THE GROWTH OF BASIL PLANTS (OCIMUM BASILICUM)

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1 EFFECTIVENESS OF CATERPILLAR FRASS AS FERTILIZER ON THE GROWTH OF BASIL PLANTS (OCIMUM BASILICUM) Lerma P. Buenvinida& Victoria E. Tamban Faculty of College of Teacher Education Laguna State Polytechnic University Los Banos Campus Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines ABSTRACT The effects of the caterpillar frass as fertilizer on the growth of basil plant, Ocimumbasilicum, were determined mainly by comparing the plant growth by height and leaf widths with different amounts of frass added to the soil. Basil plants that were cultured and treated with greateramount of caterpillar frass at 15 grams/plant were significantly taller (mean height, 4.94 cm; SD, ) compared with those plants treated with lower frass at 10 gm/plant (mean ht., 3.94 cm.; SD, ), at 5 gm/plant (mean ht, 4.91 cm; SD, ) and in the control (0 gm frass; mean ht, 4.86 cm.; SD, ). Furthermore, basil plants treated at 15 gm of frass/plant (mean width, 1.84 cm; SD, ) and at 10 gm/plant; mean wd., 1.90 cm; SD, ), had significantly wider leavesthan those treated at 5 gm/plant; mean wd, 1.54 cm; SD, ), and control (0 gm; mean wd., 1.58 cm; SD, ). No significant differences were observed between the width of leaves of plants treated with 15 and 10 gm of frass. The width of leaves plants treated with 5 gm of frass was also not significantly different from those plants in the control. Mature leaves of basil plants grown in the garden with added frass had the same green color compared with those plants cultured without frass for a longer culture period. Hence, the following are recommended: use about 15 gm of caterpillar frass added to obtain optimum growth of basil plant;instead of throwing away the frass to the trash, save and use them to grow better garden plants; extend the culture period of basil plants to attain their maximum growth; conduct further study to determine the proper mixture of frass with the various types of soil to obtain maximum plant growth; conduct further study to test the effectiveness of the caterpillar frass as fertilizer on various garden plant species other than basil plants Keywords: caterpillar frass, fertilizer, effectiveness, Basil plant

2 1. Introduction Butterflies are beautiful and colorfulinsects, with great aesthetic value. They provide economic and ecological benefits to humans, as valuable pollinators when they move from plants to plants gathering nectar and serve as good indicators of environmental quality as they are sensitive to changes in the environment (Jeevan et al., 2013). Butterflies have two pairs of large wings and are covered with overlapping rows of tiny scales, a characteristic these insects share with other lepidopterans, including moths.butterflies have complete metamorphosis, as they lay eggs, that hatch into caterpillars (with several larval instars), then become pupae, and emerge as adults. Caterpillars usually feed on leafy vegetables and other plants.they certainly play an amazingly important role in controlling the growth of their host plants and causing heavy economic damage. However, many caterpillars are also being preyed upon for food by a number of other insects, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Some predatory species are caterpillar dependent, including many of the neotropical migrant birds that time their arrival to certain region(e.g. North America) with the emergence of caterpillars upon which they feed. Caterpillars produce a lot of poop or caterpillar frass, which is a combination of waste product and undigested plant material that has passed through the caterpillar gut or alimentary tract. It is vitally important to most ecosystems particularly in tropical areas, as well as in temperate regions. Basically, frass comes in various sizes, depending upon the body size of the caterpillar. As voracious plant feeders, most caterpillars produce too much frass, that serves as organic fertilizer. Insect frass has various forms of nitrogen that significantly impact the decomposition process and soil nitrogen dynamics. It remains poorly known how host plant quality affects the nitrogen forms in the insect frass(kagata& Ohgushi,2011). Basil plant (OcimumbasilicumLinnaeus), is often referred to as the king of herbs(rhoedes,2016).it is a bushy, tender annual with glossy-surfaced leaves, that reaches about 18 in height when mature. The plant is a fast grower, with a prolific leaf-harvest, and blooms tiny white or purple flowers on spikes. It is certainly one of the most popular herbs grown in the home garden. It has been found out that home garden grown basil (like all other fresh food) has a pure, tasty flavor and commonly used by major chefs worldwide. Moreover, basil is used in tomato, pesto, pepper, eggplant, soup, fish, and meat dishes. It is also popularly used as an oil or vinegar flavoring (McLaughlin, 2010). This study was conducted to determine the effects of caterpillar frass inthe growth of the basil plant (OcimumbasilicumLinnaeus), particularly its height and leaf width.specifically, the study aimed to answer the following three questions: 1. What is the growth performance of basil plants using different amount of caterpillar frass? 2. Is there a significant difference on the growth in height of basil using different amount of caterpillar frass? and 3. Is there a significant difference on the width of the leaves of basil using different amount of caterpillar frass? 86

3 2. Materials and Methods The study was conducted in the campus garden of the Laguna State Polytechnic University, Los Banos Campus, Los Banos, Laguna, from September to October The basil plants were planted in polyethylene bags, measuring 2.5 X 2.5 X 6 cm. Three basil plants were used for each of the three treatments: A, B and C, with added frass of 5 grams (gm), 10 gm and 15 gm, respectively. Three plants were used for the control group (without frass). Three replications were used for each treated group and control. The treatment differences between the amount of caterpillar frass and plant height or leaf width were tested for significance, using F-statistic of one-way ANOVA The eggs of the butterfly were collected from the cage where it was cultured. The eggs hatched into larvae and these feed on the host basil plants. The caterpillarfrass was collected daily, properly weighed, and then placed in containers to air dry before adding to the soil used to grow the basil plants for the experiments. The heights (ht.) of the plants as well as their leaf widths (wd.) were measured two weeks after adding the frass to the soil.measurements were conducted weekly for 8 weeks, including their means, standard deviations (SD) and related statistical analyses (ANOVA, F-tests). 3. Results and Discussion Table 1 shows that basil plants grown in polyethylene bags at treatment A with added15 grams of caterpillar frass/plant were significantly taller(mean height, 4.94 cm; SD, ) than those at treatment B (10 gm. frass/plant; mean ht., 3.94 cm; SD, ), treatment C (5 gm. frass/plant; mean ht., 4.91 cm; SD, ), and control (0 gm. frass/plant; mean ht., 4.86 cm; SD, ). Table 2 shows the statistical analysis used in the study, including ANOVA, F-statistic and p-value (= ) for significance of treatments. Table 1. Mean height of basil plants in the three treated groups (with caterpillar frass added) and the control group (no frass added) TREATMENTS Amount of caterpillar frass (gm) A(15gm) B(10gm) C(5gm) D(control) Plant height (cm) Mean height (cm) Standard Deviation (SD)

4 Table 2. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the effect of eachtreatment on the height of basil plants. Source of variation Sum squares SS of Degrees of freedom ν Mean square MS F-statistic p-value* Treatment e-05 Error Total *The p-value corresponding to the F-statistic is lower than 0.05, which implies that the treatments are significantly different. Table 3 shows that basil plants grown in polyethylene bags at treatment A with added 15 grams of caterpillar frass/plant (mean width, 1.84 cm.; SD, ) and treatment B(10 gm frass/plant; mean wd, 1.90 cm; SD, ), had significantly wider leavesthan those at treatment C (5 gm frass/plant; mean wd., 1.54 cm; SD, ), and control (0 gm frass/plant; mean wd., 1.58 cm; SD, ). No significant differences were observed between the width of leaves of plants treated with 15 and 10 gm. frass. The width of leaves plants treated with 5 gm frass was not significantly different from those plants in the control. Mature leaves of basil plants grown in the garden (without added frass) had the same green color compared with those plants cultured with added caterpillar frass for a longer period (Figure 1). Table 4 shows the statistical analysis used in the study, including ANOVA, F- statistic and p-value (= ) for significance of treatments. Table 3. Mean leaf width of basil plants in the three treatments (with caterpillar frass) and in the control group (without frass). TREATMENTS Amount of caterpillar frass A (15gm) B(10gm) C(5gm) D(control) Leaf width (cm) Mean width (cm) Standard Deviation (SD) Mature basil leaves showing green color in plants grown in the garden treated with caterpillar 88

5 frass for a longer period, which was similar to those plants cultured without added frass. Figure 1. Mature basil leaves Table 4. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the effect of each treatment on the leaf width of basil plants. Source variation of Sum of squares ss Degrees freedom ν of Mean ms square F statistic P-value Treatment e- 06 Error Total *The p-value corresponding to the F-statistic is lower than 0.05, which implies that the treatments are significantly different. 89

6 Table 5. Post Hoc- Analysis on Height of Basil Plants treatments pair Q statistic p-value inferfence A vs B ** p<0.01 A vs C insignificant A vs D insignificant B vs C ** p<0.01 B vs D ** p<0.01 C vs D Insignificant *The p-value corresponding to the Post-Hoc Statistic for Treatment A and B is lower than 0.05 level of significance, which implies that the treatment are significantly different same with Treatment B and C as well as Treatment B and D wherein Treatment A and C were insignificant same with Treatment A and D, and Treatment C and D. Table 6. Post Hoc- Analysis on Width of the Basil Leaves treatments pair Q statistic p-value inferfence A vs B Insignificant A vs C ** p<0.01 A vs D ** p<0.01 B vs C ** p<0.01 B vs D ** p<0.01 C vs D Insignificant *The p-value corresponding to the Post-Hoc Statistic for Treatment A and B is greater than 0.05 level of significance, which implies that the treatment are not significantly different same with Treatment C and D while Treatment A and C, Treatment A and D, Treatment B and C, and Treatment B and D were significantly different. 90

7 4. Conclusions The results of the study showed that there were significant differences on the effectiveness of caterpillar frass as fertilizer, based on various amounts added to culture the plants as indicated on the height of the plants and the width size of their leaves. Plants with added caterpillar frass at gm/plant had significantly greater growth compared with those plants having no added frass or lower amount (5 gm) added to the soil. Therefore, the caterpillar frass at higher amount added to the soil (i.e. 10 or 15 gm/plant) was effective as fertilizer to provide optimum growth of the basil plants. 5. Recommendations Based on the results of this study, the following items are recommended: a. Use about 15 gm of caterpillar frass per plant, added to the soil as fertilizer to obtain optimum growth of basil plants. Instead of throwing away the frass to the trash, save and use them to grow better garden plants. b. Extend the culture period of basil plants to attain their maximum growth, since the green color of the leaves is maintained even on mature plants. c. Conduct further study to determine the proper mixture of frass with the various types of soil to obtain maximum plant growth. d. Conduct further study to test the effectiveness of the caterpillar frass as fertilizer on various garden plant species other than basil plants. References Biology: Living Systems (1994). GLENCOE DIVISION. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Jeevan, E.N.,.(2013). Butterfly Diversity and Status in Mandagadde of Shivamogga, Karnataka, India.International Journal of Applied biology and Pharmaceutical Technology, 4(4), Kagata, H., &Ohgushi, T. (2011) Ingestion and excretion of nitrogen by larvae of a cabbage armyworm: the effects of fertilizer application. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 13 (2), Librero, F.R. (2012). Writing Your Thesis (A Practical Guide for students). University of the Philippines Open University, Los Banos, Laguna. Revathy,V.S. (2014). Role of recreated habitats in butterfly conservation: a case study at Thenmala, Kerala, India, 34(4). The basil growing guide. Accessed at: 91

8 The basil growing guide. Accessed at: Edible Gardens Herbs Basil Rhoedes,?? (2016). How to Grow Basil Plants. Accessed at: McLaughlin,?? (2010). How to Grow Basil. Accessed at: 92